Saints · Ages 5-8 · 27 pages

Our Lady: The Mother Who Said Yes

by Kyle Hancock

“Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” A young woman in Nazareth said yes to God — and nothing has been the same since. Mary lived in a tiny town called Nazareth, and she was going to marry a good man named Joseph. From the very first moment of her life, God had kept her free from all sin. When the angel Gabriel came to tell her she would be the mother of God’s own Son, Mary was surprised and a little afraid. She could have said no. But Mary trusted God completely, and she said yes: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then she hurried to visit her relative Elizabeth, whose baby leaped for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice, and Mary sang a beautiful song to God. In Bethlehem she laid baby Jesus in a manger and kept every moment safe in her heart. In Nazareth she watched Him play and learn and grow. At a wedding in Cana she told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” And on the saddest day, she stayed beside His Cross with John, and Mary Magdalene, and the other women, and Jesus said to John, “Behold, your mother.” That day Jesus gave Mary to John — and to all of us. After Jesus went up to Heaven, she prayed with the apostles until the Holy Spirit came down on them all, like little flames of fire. Our Lady: The Mother Who Said Yes tells her true story in warm watercolor illustrations and simple read-aloud words — from the angel’s greeting in Nazareth to the day God took her up to Heaven, body and soul, and to the great sign Saint John saw at the very end of the Bible, in which the Church sees Mary, the Queen of Heaven and earth. It tells, too, how she came to Juan Diego in Mexico and to three shepherd children at Fatima, and how each time she pointed to Jesus, just as she did at Cana. Because of her yes, Jesus came into the world to save us — and one humble “yes” to God can change the whole world. Written for ages 4 to 8 — a read-aloud for the youngest, and a first saint story for children who are starting to read on their own. Inside you’ll find a Scripture page from the Gospel of Luke (“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”); the true story told in short lines little ones can follow; A Note for Families about who Mary is, what “favored one” and “full of grace” mean, why the Church calls her Mother of God and Ever-Virgin, her Immaculate Conception and her Assumption, the woman clothed with the sun, Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima, and why Catholics honor Mary and worship God alone; a prayer to pray together, ending with the Hail Mary; Talk About It Together, questions for after the story; and a page about her life for the grown-up reading aloud, with what the Bible tells us and what the Church teaches and Christians have handed down. Feast days: January 1, Mary, Mother of God, and August 15, the Assumption (both holy days of obligation); March 25, the Annunciation; August 22, the Queenship of Mary; October 7, Our Lady of the Rosary; December 8, the Immaculate Conception (a holy day of obligation and the patronal feast of the United States); December 12, Our Lady of Guadalupe; February 11, Our Lady of Lourdes; May 13, Our Lady of Fatima.